


Drag Me Down

by RarePairGremlin



Series: The Grand Kings Collection [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dumbasses, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, Insecurities, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oikawa Tooru's Knee Injury, Pre-Relationship, Pro Volleyball Player Oikawa Tooru, ex roommates, implied massage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-27 05:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21387235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RarePairGremlin/pseuds/RarePairGremlin
Summary: “Something wrong Sawamura-kun?” their voice was sickly sweet and teasing and just as fake as the smile it was paired with. Like honey laced with lead, sweet and poisonous. He hated when they did these tactics, tried to pass off that they're perfectly fine when they're far from it. But, he also understood why they did it. He just wishes they didn't feel the need to use them on him.“Cut the bullshit Tooru,” he straightened against the back of the couch, let his arm drop to the armrest as he glared at them, hoping that the 'tough love' routine wouldn't cause them to clam up on him. He wanted them to open up not push him away. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find the balance between supporting them and pushing them out of their comfort zone.
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sawamura Daichi
Series: The Grand Kings Collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539973
Comments: 2
Kudos: 31





	Drag Me Down

**Author's Note:**

> [ Twitter ](https://twitter.com/RarePairGremlin) | [ My Discord Group, 18+, come chat! ](https://discord.gg/CsX643w) | [ Pillowfort ](https://www.pillowfort.social/RPG) | [ Tumblr ](https://rarepairgremlin.tumblr.com)
> 
> Second NaNoWriMo fic is finally done. Officially sick so that's slowing me down but eh. Still making progress at least? 😂

He eyed Oikawa suspiciously instead of focusing on the movie. Not that it mattered if he paid attention to the screen. They’ve watched it together so many times now, not including the nights he’s watched it on his own, that he could recite the dialogue from memory if really he wanted to. 

The movie was one of their favorites, and it wasn't one of the god awful alien or space based ones they keep trying to get him to watch. Usually, he didn't mind watching it with them but today was different, they were off somehow and his patience was waning. It's obvious something's wrong but they have yet to bring it up.

Oikawa was trying to pretend they couldn’t feel his piercing gaze but he could see the subtle shifts of their body and the wavering of their careful expressions. He also noted the way their eyes scrunched up whenever they moved a certain way. He already had a solid guess as to what the problem is but he needed more proof. The clues he's gathered so far enough to form a hypothesis but not enough for a concrete conclusion. 

Leaning his chin on his palm he squinted his eyes, sighed heavily and tapped his fingers against their leg. He was purposefully distracting them from the movie and they knew it but the fact that they didn't bounce their leg to push away his fingers were telling. 

After several minutes, they lasted longer than he'd expected, they finally flicked their eyes to glace at him from the corner of their eyes. He smirked darkly, challenging them. They sighed but turned their head and met his gaze. He didn't speak which left them huffing. His eyes bore holes into theirs as a deep silence spread between them. They gulped noticeably before pulling what he was confident in calling the fakest smile they’ve served him yet. Their lips trembled before they steadied and he deadpanned, unamused by their poor attempt.

“Something wrong Sawamura-kun?” their voice was sickly sweet and teasing and just as fake as the smile it was paired with. Like honey laced with lead, sweet and poisonous. He hated when they did these tactics, tried to pass off that they're perfectly fine when they're far from it. But, he also understood why they did it. He just wishes they didn't feel the need to use them on him.

“Cut the bullshit Tooru,” he straightened against the back of the couch, let his arm drop to the armrest as he glared at them, hoping that the 'tough love' routine wouldn't cause them to clam up on him. He wanted them to open up not push him away. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find the balance between supporting them and pushing them out of their comfort zone. 

Oikawa’s eyes widened but the mask they’d painted over their face didn’t waver. He counted it as a win, even if the smile didn't change. It meant they were listening to him for the moment which was good.

“I don’t know what you mean Daichi,” they tried to keep playing it off as nothing but he didn’t back down, growling out, “Yes you do!” before they could finish speaking. He felt a pang of guilt when he saw them flinch at his tone but it was quickly pushed away as the final piece to the puzzle clicked into place. Their face giving everything away now that he had their complete attention.

He’d left work with only one thing in mind; going home, flopping across his bed and laying where he landed without a care. The plan had been simply passing out for several hours to make up for the late nights he's been pulling lately. That, of course, had been crumpled up and tossed aside the moment he'd stepped into his apartment and nearly tripping over a pair of, very, familiar shoes. 

It had been the first sign that something was off. It wasn't unusual for Oikawa to show up to his place without so much as a warning, that happened all the time. It's been happening since University when he was the only one out of several mutuals that lived in an apartment and not a dorm. No, the sudden visit wasn't concerning, it was the sight of their shoes just thrown into the doorway haphazardly, where anyone could trip over them. 

He’d stared down at them concerned before setting them on the shoe rack properly. It was next to the closet just inside his doorway, so there was no good reason Oikawa wouldn’t have bent down and set them up properly.

The next sign something was amiss was when he’d seen them slouching awkwardly on his couch. One of their legs was thrown over a lump of blankets that he’d discarded there the night before, after binging too many episodes of a show he’s become too into. The other leg was curled up under them in a way that couldn't be comfortable no matter how much he looed at it. 

He'd stood in the entrance to his living room eyeing them curiously. They'd glanced his way, averting their gaze quick enough for him to miss the pained expression in their eyes. They'd greeted him and asked if he minded them hanging out for a bit. Shaking his head he'd watched their slouched, curled figure awhile longer. After a few minutes, they’d given him a wobbly grin, the pain and sadness wiped from their face, clearly intending to play this off as just another unexpected visit. 

What hit home for him was what he'd seen when he’d emerged from his room after changing out of his work clothes. He'd walked in on them carefully, shakily pushing themself to sit up. It spiked the idea that their knee was hurting more than usual, no doubt due to their inability to slow down once in a while and listen to their body instead of their head. Unwilling to watch them continue pushing themself just to sit up he was next to the couch before they noticed he was back.

Carefully lifting their leg, consciously making sure not to let on his suspicions while also making sure not to hurt them further, he sat down. He laid their legs over his lap, watching their face with a careful expression. He watched how their blank face gave nothing away but their eyes widened in surprise and he didn't miss the flinch of their lips when he'd lowered his palm over their knee. 

The final clue happened just now with the way they’d flinched at his tone. It had begun as a reaction to his angry, sharp tone, but it quickly turned into a flash of pain when they moved their leg with the flinch. 

He waited patiently for them to relax against him again, holding the calf of their injured leg, circling his fingertips into the muscle in a light-touched massage. He kept his gaze on them, making sure that if they looked to be in too much discomfort or wanted him to stop he could without needing to wait for them to speak. They didn't give him any sign of wanting that though and eventually, he felt the muscle loosen through the material of their jeans. The knot between their brow disappeared and their breathing evened again as they relaxed.

Unfortunately, the fake mas was brought back and they smiled at him, cleared their throat and tried to continue joking with him. Oikawa was clearly not yet ready to give up their ploy that everything was fine, but their voice wavered.

“So mean Dai.”

“If that’s what it takes to get you to stop being an idiot and talk to me, fine,” he shot back, raising his brow again. Oikawa swallowed hard, their smile wavering as a crease began forming in their brow. 

“How many hours have you overtrained this week?” he questioned before they could begin recovering.

“I haven’t bee-” they stopped as his expression darkened. Their smile fell into a tight, half-smirk. “Not… Not as much as you’re thinking…” they trailed off and he sighed sadly.

“That’s not an answer and you know it,” he whispered, changing his tactics from tough love to soft-spoken prodding. 

It worked better than he'd expected as they swallowed hard and mumbled out an airy apology, however, they glanced off to the side, eyeing the movie still playing on the screen but not really seeing it. He heard them sigh, felt their leg tremble under his hands as they shifted it on his lap. 

“I just… Lately I…” their lips fell into a frown as they trailed off again. Their eyes relaxed into a sad droop and he felt a pang rush through his chest, already knowing what they were trying to say and hide at the same time. He ran his thumb over the soft material of their jeans as he softened his voice.

“Where’s your brace?”

“I forgot it at home…” the whispered so softly he had to lean closer to hear them.

“And you came here, instead of going home for it, because here's closer than home?” they nodded, turning their head towards him as he spoke, his voice softening the longer he watched them. “You’re in that much pain right now? That you couldn’t make it the couple more blocks to your place?” again, a nod at his questioning. He hummed, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck.

“Why didn’t you ask a teammate for a ride home?”

Oikawa shrugged but the way their face turned further away from him for a minute was all the answer he needed.

“You’ve been feeling…?” he trailed off as they released an annoyed sound, their head hanging in defeat at how easily he read their thoughts. He sighed, eyes rolled to the ceiling and he raised a hand. Oikawa glanced his way just as his palm met the back of their head with a dull thwack.

“Eh!?” they shouted as he began scolding them, his words and tone drowning out any backlash or sass they might have thought of throwing back at him. 

“Dumbass! You’re one of the most important players on the team! You manage to bring out everyone’s strengths so easily! And you quite literally push yourself past your body’s restrictions, just to make sure you, personally, make up for everyone else’s weaknesses! When you don't have to! You. Don't. Have. To! But you do it anyway! Not to mention you stay up till, god awful, hours studying. Studying your opponents, studying plays you want to learn and you basically do all the work a team manager should be doing. Which is not your job but, Oikawa Tooru does it anyway because he doesn't believe he's ever good enough!

"By the way," he branched off, his breaths coming out in light pants from his small rant. "Nametsu wants you to cut that shit out already, she’s more than capable of doing her job without you trying to do it as well and even you know that.”

Oikawa grinned at the mention of the team’s new manager, knowing full well what they’ve been doing. He sent them a hard loo but it no longer held as much heat as it had now that he had a genuine smile from them. Though, he wishes that smile reached their eyes. 

The hand that he used to smack the back of their head with smoothed over their short, wavy hair, moving down to the peach fuzz of their undercut. He swirled the pads of his fingers over it, the sort strands tickled his palm and he smiled fondly at them. The hand on their leg gave their thigh a comforting squeeze and his thumb rubbed over the soft denim of their jeans slowly. 

It was such a gentle moment and a warmth was spreading through his chest as they silently gazed at each other. He felt comfortable under their heated stare, their eyes finally showing the conflicting emotions they were feeling inside without a filter. He loved them best like this, open and honest. 

He realized what he was doing when his hand slipped from their hair to their neck, his palm cupped the warmed skin and he nearly jumped out of his skin in shock when they leaned into his touch. His cheeks flushed a bright pink and he yanked his hand away as Oikawa’s hooded gaze met his, their cheek resting on his wrist. Gulping against the pulse suddenly pounding uncontrollably high in his throat he carefully lifted their leg as he stood, placed it gently on the couch and shot down his hallway with quick steps.

“Wh-where are you going!?” they called after him, their face just as flushed as his. Their eyes were wide with shock and hurt as they watched him disappear around the corner. Groaning, Oikawa flopped back against the couch, hissing as a sock of pain coursed up his leg. "Tooru, you're an idiot. He's just a friend. Just a friend and nothing more. You need to stop these feelings," he chanted to himself quietly, closing his eyes as he mouthed the words, waiting for Daichi to return.

Daichi didn’t answer them, found himself unable to speak at all as he spun around on socked feet and slid into his bathroom. His tongue felt thick in his mouth and the blush grew darker as he opened the small cabinet hung on the wall next to the sink. He grabbed the soothing massage oil that he’d purchased after Oikawa mentioned offhand that this specific brand was their favorite to use on their knee whenever it got sore. 'The peppermint oil in it numbs and soothes while also making me smell good!' they'd said and he agreed. Not that he'd admit to that aloud. 

He rolled the small bottle between his sweaty palms, wanting to draw out some time before he went back to Oikawa after his too intimate display. A fleeting thought of how it would feel to give them a massage, to feel their skin against his hands, left him banging his head against the cabinet door, hoping they didn't hear the rattle of it and ask. 

“Get ahold of yourself Sawamura, he doesn’t like you like that!” he whisper-yelled at himself, ignoring how his own words brought out a painful pang inside his chest, before straightening. Taking a deep breath he attempted to calm his face and nerves before going back to the infuriating yet lovable idiot on his couch.

**Author's Note:**

> I might add a 'getting together' part to this fic if there's enough interest. If you want to see a part 2 lemme know?


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